Bricks are usually molded from clay, but in Karaba, a small African village in southwestern Burkina Faso, bricks are quarried out of the hillside. This hill is made of laterite, a reddish-colored rock rich in iron and aluminum.

Historically, laterite was cut into brick-shaped blocks and used in building. In Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and other southeast Asian sites, you can find many construction made of laterite. In more recent times, laterite instead of stone has been used in road laying because of the former’s porous nature.